Match Preview: Isthmian South Central Division
Basingstoke Town Vs Southall
When: Friday 7th April 2023 Kick-off 3pm
Where: Winklebury Stadium, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
Southall (Nickname – The All’s), Avg 2022-23 Home Att 79
Admission Prices: Adults £10, Concessions £7, U16’s £3, U12’s £1
Match Programmes £2
With our midweek cup success at AFC Portchester, we now return to the league title battle, having conceded top spot following two successive defeats. The one-goal loss at home to Hanworth Villa, was followed by our 5-1 defeat at our title opponents Walton & Hersham last Saturday.
Tomorrow we play Southall who in our first match-up just six weeks ago, we came away from Middlesex with a close but deserved one-nil victory on the night, following a first-half finish by Ben Cook.
Our Opponents
The All’s, who currently share Ashford Town’s ground are managed by Max Howell. Howell an ex-full back, played for clubs such as Luton Town, Hillingdon Borough, Northwood and Chesham United.
Southall head to us on also on a two-game losing streak that has sent them down to tenth place in the league and with little chance of making the playoffs. Those two losses were both on the road Guernsey (4-1), and Hanworth Villa (2-0). Their record now sits at Pld 33 Won 11 Drawn 13 Lost 9 Pts 44. Their away record currently stands at 4 Wins, 7 Draws and 6 Losses.
Southall’s leading goal-scorer is still striker Anthony O’Connor who has now notched up ten goals this season. He has played at Inter Milan, North Greenford United and Harrow Borough. They recently signed Jaden Thompson-Brissett (21 years-old), who has eight goals and has an impressive list of previous clubs including Norwich City, Maidenhead United, Dagenham, Brentford and Hayes & Yeading United. Another recent signing is Michael Bryan, an ex-U21 Northern Ireland player, who has one goal and has played more recently at Hendon, Hampton & Richmond Borough and Harrow Borough.
Attacking midfielder Luke Heneghan has added eight goals, and has been part of league clubs Northwood, Chalfont St Peter and more recently Uxbridge. Louis Stead has also added four goals, and has a wealth of experience having played for teams such as Northwood, Beaconsfield & Hampton & Richmond Borough. Jack Roper in his fifth year at Southall, is just 22 and has added three goals. Ryan Hope, who returned to Southall after leaving National League South side Hemel Hempstead. Hope has played over 150 times for Southall. Kevin Songolo is a tall midfielder, who has played for Harrow Borough and recently joined the club from Sutton Common Rovers.
In defence is Carl Pierce, who has played for clubs such as Northwood & Chesham Utd and captaining England C in the Falkland Islands, but has become a stalwart in Southall’s defence in recent seasons. Yet another player who has played for Northwood, is Alex Nolan, who has played for clubs such as Egham Town & Chalfont St Peter. At left-back has been Frankie Taylor in recent games. He has previously played for Boreham Wood.
In goal will be Michael Edegbe, who is on a season-long loan from Slough Town. Michael has also had two loans spells at Uxbridge in between playing for Slough Town’s U23’s.
Our Basingstoke Town Side
A hugely disappointing result last weekend at Walton & Hersham, in front of a huge Basingstoke contingent and even larger overall crowd, leads us into this must win match against Southall, that has been brought forward twenty-four hours to the Good Friday.
Our recent games have been beset by pre-game injuries to our experienced midfield players have not helped, and notably all on the dreaded 3G surfaces, brings us to question our line-up tomorrow afternoon.
Following our two league losses, our record now stands at Pld 34 Won 25 Drawn 2 Lost 7 with 77 points, whilst our huge positive goal difference just a few weeks ago, has also now disappeared.
The forward line still not firing on all-cylinders is still unlikely to change much, with Bradley Wilson, Paul Hodges and last week’s sole goal-scorer George Reid retaining their starting roles. Reid’s goal at Walton now gives him seventeen for the season. Brody Peart, could play a starting role depending on how we set-up, but despite calls from supporters, he is still a probable option off the bench. Stefan Brown and possibly McKoy Palmer are other options also on the bench,
Will Simon Dunn be fit for tomorrow’s game after hobbling off last Saturday. Will Michael Atkinson be fit after being forced out of last weeks starting line-up as he warmed-up before the game. Those are the first questions and if they start can they last the ninety minutes if required. If not Ben Cook, D’Andre Brown and James Clark are the potential starters in place. Anton Rodgers who has played in the County Cup competitions, could also be an option, as well as Luis Le Paih if needed.
The defence had to crack at some point and unfortunately it had to be last week and against a well-organized side, who took full advantage of us going down to ten-men, with Billy Upton’s two yellow cards and then a somewhat dodgy penalty award that killed off any hope of a recovery. This of course should mean Upton will be missing tomorrow, leaving Nathan Smart now partnering Scott Armsworth in the centre. Callum Winchcombe still should lead the left-back role, whilst Markus Johnson-Schuster is likely to retain his right-back slot, with Ben Mason and possibly Dan Williamson has defensive options on the bench.
Unless Dan wants to change things up and give Paul Strudley a breather, then he should be the keeper, whilst Mark Scott is the back-up.
With another large crowd expected, but minimal support from a club that’s home average attendance is just seventy-nine, it is for our supporters to give our players the potential lift to get us back to winnings way.
Once again Southall are likely to keep the game close, so it is vital that when the chances come along, they are taken by whoever they fall too. A win would put us back on top and put a little pressure on Walton & Hersham not playing till 2pm out in Guernsey on the Saturday.
Match Preview by Martin French..